JULIAN Barnes won the Man Booker prize last night after being shortlisted four times.

Bookies' favourite Barnes took the £50,000 prize for The Sense Of An Ending, about a man forced to re-evaluate his past in middle age through a bequeathed diary.

Oxford-educated Barnes, 65, joked that he was "relieved" to avoid the fate of Beryl Bainbridge, who was awarded a posthumous Booker after failing to win in her lifetime.

He beat five other novels to win the prize at a ceremony in Guildhall, London.

Julian Barnes has won the Booker Prize with The Sense of Ending

Ex MI5 chief Dame Stella Rimington, chair of the judges, described the 150-page novel as "a classic of English literature". She said: "It is exquisitely written, subtly plotted and reveals new depths with each reading."

Barnes was first shortlisted for the prize in 1984 for Flaubert's Parrot. In 1998 he was nominated for England, England, and for Arthur And George six years ago.